Neotropical Otter; Latrines; Bioacoustics; Social Behavior.
Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818) is a carnivorous mammal with a wide geographic distribution, occurring from Northern Mexico to Argentina, and present in almost all of Brazil, the species can be found in lakes, rivers and estuaries. One of the ways to study the species is through indirect observation: carcasses, tracks, latrines, anal mucus and feces. This research was carried out in the municipality of Nísia Floresta, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, using basically traps cameras -in the study, we highlight four points. (1) We update the occurrence of L. longicaudis in 19 municipalities inserted in 08 watersheds being 12 municipalities located in the Eastern Coast of the State, among these 13 are inserted in an area of Atlantic Forest and 9 in the Environmental Protection Areas (APA Bonfim Guaraías and Piquiri-Una). (2) Through the community latrines of L. longicaudis, we are able to register the presence of nine species of vertebrates (mammals, reptiles and birds) that use the latrine opportunistically to feed on feces and/or obtain food, such as insects. (3) Using 83 footage of otters by trap cameras, we affirm that the species in Rio Grande do Norte is very active at night and/or twilight, in addition, we set up an ethogram of the behavior of otters in their latrines and conclude that the species does not use latrines only as a “bathroom”, but also as a communication center between individuals. (4) Using the camera traps, connected for 24 hours, together with the Song Meter recorder, we describe the first vocal repertoire of L. longicaudis in natural habitat. The spectral analysis of the vocalizations was performed in the RAVEN Pro 1.5 software (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY) and the sounds captured by the equipment suggest that Lontra has a well-defined vocal repertoire.